The Lone Ranger!!

The past two weeks (that's right 14 days!!) I have been a "Lone Ranger"...

Not this kind of Lone Ranger (although he is pretty dang adorable!)

But a single mom--without a husband--trying to keep my sanity while Nate is off basking in the sun in Phoenix Arizona! J/K--Nate was in Phoenix but not exactly basking in the sun! He had training for work and usually we would go with him but it was for TWO weeks which was rather too long to take Ty out of school! So we stayed home...but trust you me, I did not sit around and have a pitty-party waiting for my handsome husband to return! Nope! Instead my mom came down and we had a painting party!!

I found that the busier I was the less time I had to feel sorry for myself that Nate was gone! I was one determined chick to get lots done in two weeks.

Project #1
I stared with my 3 hallway closets!
I've been working on these closets for a while now: organizing, cleaning out, taking off nasty-flower-heart-dirty-contact paper! But it wasn't enough, they needed a new paint job! So our first project my mom and I worked on was painting the closets.

I'm very embarrassed to show these next couple pictures because I didn't realize how bad my closets were until I looked back on the nasty pictures that were taken.

Just for the record: this is not me! I hate being disorganized and having such a mess! BUT when we moved in I wasn't sure where I wanted everything and I was in such a hurry to unpack boxes I threw things on the shelf and closed the door! I've also been so busy doing other projects that I let the closets slip!!

Before:
Looking at this makes me want to throw-up!

The coat/game/puzzle closet! Wow--glad that was the before shots! What the before shots don't show is the pencil sharpener mounted on the wall and years of pencil marks all over the closet walls.

After:
Much- MUCH better!! Nate says I'm turning our whole house into plastic! I'm just keeping rubber-main in business!

Painting closets sure isn't my favorite thing to do! BUT they sure look so much better when they are clean and sparkly--and organized! I like everything in my house to have a place to go!

Project #2
THE WALL

This is the famous wall in our house which is the least favorite of all the walls! It is textured funny, old, (compared to the surrounding walls of the addition) and disliked by many (mostly Nate!) I thought painting it would help-but the semi gloss we used made Nate hate it more! I told him that he was welcome to repaint the wall and do anything he wanted to it--but I was NOT going to touch it! Well I guess I was wrong--I did touch it! My mom and I sanded it down, smoothed it out and repainted it with a satin paint. It looks much better--I just hope Nate thinks so! Then I hung up our family pictures and wala!! It's done!

Project #3
Mara's Room
I couldn't take it any more! The blue had finally gotten the best of me!
Before:
It was time to say 'good-bye' to the blue room!!

If you ask Mara what color room she wanted she would have said "pink, purple, and yellow!" Wow--that it a little too much for me! Let's do yellow and pink instead!

After:
The yellow is the same as our hallway so it flows into her room! I love the unity throughout the house!

Nate wanted to get rid of the bead-board but I thought it gave the room a nice 'girly' touch! After a little (or a lot) of spackle, sanding, and paint it looks brand new and I love it!

All it needs now is a few pink decorations on the walls. If only Price had a Hobby Lobby or Micheal's I would be done!

My cute mother helped me make these darling curtains for Mara's room. The picture doesn't do justice, you'll just have to see them in person! The best part about doing Mara's room was hearing her say "Wow mom! My room looks so nice!" I'm glad she is pleased--now let's hope Nate is!!

Project #4
Caleb's Room
This little buddy's room was a cave! So dark, so ugly! It had to be changed!
Before:

After:

The tan color is the same as my room, but I wanted it to have a little boy feel to it so I painted an "Aggie Blue" stripe around the top and the accent color---when I can find a few things to hang up--will be red!

If you know Caleb you know his favorite thing in the entire world (next to papa that is) is BALLS! He is our sports hero! This little kid is the next Jimmer! So we had to go with the sports theme and he will soon have some sports decorations hanging on his wall!

I don't have a before shot of Caleb's closet, but it was nasty and while we had the paint out we might as well paint it and make it look new and nice!

So I did it! I accomplished all that I set out to do AND more! I survived my TWO weeks of being a Lone Ranger! I couldn't have done it without the help and support of my awesome mother! Thanks again Mimi! I'm sorry I was such a slave-driver, but thanks for helping me on the projects and with the kiddos! We pulled some late nighters to get our work done! But so grateful it is finished!

I also couldn't have done it without the love and help from these three cute kiddos! They are the perfect children! They sure missed their daddy, but they were troopers.

Now let's hope 'The Boss' likes what I've done! Nate has no clue that I've worked so hard on any of the above projects! I can hardly wait to see his reaction! This might just teach him a lesson: Never leave me again for TWO weeks...you never know what I might do!!